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Tom Evans and Kate James are fighting a legal battle to keep life support switched on for their son Alfie Evans, who has been in a coma suffering from an undiagnosed brain condition in Alder Hey for more than a year. (Image: Tom Evans / Kate James)

Tom Evans has said he believes his son could live until he was 20 or even 40 years old.

He fought back tears as he told a court last month: “All I see is Alfie and a life. I see scans showing deterioration, but I see a boy with a life who looks at me.”

He has spoken of Alfie’s “inner strength”, and the times when he had pulled through illnesses before that doctors feared would kill him.

But Lady Justice King said in the Court of Appeal this week there was a “unanimous” view that Alfie’s brain condition would eventually prove fatal.

Even Mr Stephen Knafler QC, Alfie’s parents’ lawyer, said Alfie may only survive “a few more months” if transferred to a hospital abroad for continued ventilation.